Hotel Gabrielli Sandwirth - Venice, Italy 

"Gabrielli Sandwirth Hotel was very beautiful"
Posted: Mon, Nov 23 2009
Gabrielli Sandwirth Hotel was very beautiful. The rooms are huge with beautiful new bathrooms, 20 foot ceilings, priceless views and a second half bath. I assume those who wrote poor reviews failed to do their homework and make this request prior to their stay. The staff was courteous, especially the matriach of the family owned establishment who was happy to chat with us. is a short walk to the Rialto and the Cipriani area and the vaparetto line in front of the hotel goes to Murano.

what a find
Posted: Thu, Jul 24 2008
we stayed here for two nights prior to a cruise,the hotel is a real gem,an amazing view over the lagoon from our room at the front, with a terrace on the roof where you can rest your weary feet after walking around venice, we had breakfast at the hotel,good selection continental breakfast, meals in venice are obviously expensive dependin on the location of the restaurant,but there are cheaper places to eat if you go away from the main tourist spots. we would certainly return here if we go back to venice.

RV
Posted: Mon, Jun 23 2008
nice hotel, wonderful view... venice is an expensive city... i was as a single traveller, and the rooms for singles are very little... the ones for couples are another world... :) wonderful the roof garden... if u are with friends, ask to the hotel to let you eat there... ;)

Yuck...
Posted: Mon, Jun 16 2008
I stayed 2 nights at the Gabrielli Sandwirth in April-08. I certainly wont be coming back... The hotel's main (and potentially only) strength is its location. You are located right on the lagoon and within easy walking distance of St Marks. The water ferry station is right out the front which meant you werent carrying your bags for ages to get to your hotel. While the location is excellent I would indicate that Venice is a small city and most hotel's would generally be in a good location in some capacity unless they were in a particularly remote spot. Most of the people I encountered in Venice said their hotel was "in a great location" for example... My check in experience (like most of the service I experienced) was less than impressive and the service could at best be described as indifferent. You are not made to feel welcome and staff often come across as surly or aloof. I dealt with a few different people across the time of my stay and did not encounter one person that I considered friendly or helpful. Venice can be a challenging experience to navigate if its your first time and asking for directions or tips at the front desk was pointless exercise as was asking for recommendations. I was fully expecting a small room as the building is claimed to be 13th century however it was tiny beyond expectations. The furniture was drab and in poor condition. My room was also extremely dark and noisy. My wardrobe door jammed on several occassions and the entire room felt very tired. My bed was by far the most uncomfortable I've ever encountered in a hotel before. The hotels website and promotional material dramatically mispresented the reality of the room that I stayed in. It was also confusing to discover my room was next door to the hotel's open-space offices which occupied a big portion of the floor I was on- seeing the hotel accounts people doing their work on the way to my room was hardly what I was expecting!! Breakfast wasnt anything special. The food was of generally poor quality and service was once again non-existent. The three waiting staff did not speak to either myself or the other three tables who were having breakfast themorning I was there and instead were involved in a fairly noisy discussion amongst themselves. Converting an building like the one Gabrielli Sandwirth occupies is understandably a difficult process and I wasnt expecting anything too amazing however in all areas the Gabrielli is a major disappointment. However poor room fittings and poor service made the whole experience extremely disappointing. This is absolutely not a 4-star experience...